Smart Enough to be Depressed

by Darkglare

I was inspired while rewatching the Godric episodes that there may have been another way of getting out of the FotS earlier that involved Jason. It'll be Sookie/Godric eventually. This is NOT pro Bill.

3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the books or True Blood. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

I am using some notable dialogue from True Blood at the end of this chapter because I love those four lines.

Smart Enough to get Depressed

Chapter 3

They waited for over a full minute, and then the exterior door burst inward, and Stan was there with at least twenty vampires behind him, including Bill Compton, who was at his side.

Godric leapt into the foyer to address them from the floor, and Eric joined him.

"Sheriff," Stan said, giving a respectful bow. He had not expected to find Godric, armed, and right inside the front door. He had not been sure that Godric was in the church, but had noticed all the helpless humans lying in the grass and on the pavement, along with Wiiliam Compton. Compton was positive his human telepath was close, when Stan found him pounding futilely at the door, and here she was with Godric and Northman.

"Yes, Stan. I am ready to go."

"But ..." Stan had noticed Godric's hair. He was injured while he was missing. Stan never saw Godric's hair at its original length, and had seen Godric get hit with a number of things that he thought the ancient vampire would not get up from. Fighting among the Texas sheriffs used to be vicious since their King was so weak. It was the Wild West till Godric had had enough. It was good to live in Area 9.

"I said we are leaving, underling. Do not harm anyone."

"Yes, sheriff."

Bill separated from the others who were backing off and retreating at Godric's order. "Sookie," he called, heading towards her.

"We are leaving, out through the door," Godric said, his voice hardening. When Bill did not stop his advance, he asked, "Who is this disrespectful cur that cannot follow simple instructions?"

"Bill Compton," Eric supplied, while putting his finger out to point to the door indicating to Bill that he should heed Godric and exit the church.

Sookie added, "Don't, Bill." Godric said maybe five minutes ago that he was pissed, so Bill shouldn't go mouthing off.

When Bill stood still, instead of turning and leaving, Godric's voice carried a hint of threat on his next utterance. "You are not from my area. Why are you here?"

"That would be my fault, Godric. Sookie Stackhouse," Eric nodded at her, "would not travel to Dallas without Bill Compton escorting her."

Godric halted, looked at Sookie and asked, "This is the vampire you warned me about that would harm humans in this church, unless you were freed?" He had also heard Eric say he would kill all the children here to save her while he was lying incapacitated.

"Yes, but now that I'm fine …"

Looking at Bill, Godric interrupted, "And he arrived with Stan, rather than rushing immediately to your aid yesterday night." He recalled from Sookie's story. "Very well. Leave my area immediately, Bill Compton. You are not welcome here."

"Sheriff," Bill protested, "I did arrive alone, but I could not get the door open."

Bill could not resist adding a frustrated growl when he saw Eric's gloating smirk, from his position behind Godric. Besides Lorena, he knew Eric had something to do with preventing Bill from entering this building and reaching Sookie. Now, his equally rude maker was chastising him unnecessarily. Bill would make both pay for their insults to him.

"Stan!" Godric called.

The sheriff's summons was answered instantly. "Yes, sheriff?"

"Remove Bill Compton from the grounds of this church. Rather than following my immediate orders, he'd rather stand around and quibble. He is to be out of my area as soon as he is able. I do not want him here after dawn. If he does not do that of his own free will, give him the incentive to leave."

"With pleasure, sheriff."

"Sookie, come," Bill urged.

"Miss Stackhouse is not banned from my area," Godric replied, unexpectedly taking Sookie's hand, "and she cannot travel at the same speed as you."

"I am not leaving her alone."

"I found her unprotected, Mr. Compton. She is now both with me and Eric Northman. From your accent, may I guess that he is your sheriff?"

"He is, but I do not trust Sookie to come to no harm in his company."

"Stay out of Area 5 Louisiana if you are so dissatisfied, or are you already banned from most of the United States? Might I suggest Mexico?"

Stan and several of the vampires who lingered to watch laughed. If Godric was not going to let them slaughter humans, there might be some action if this impudent rooster continued crowing. Their sheriff was patient and could endure some insults, but disrespect was something he did not tolerate for long.

What hurt Bill most was the look of triumph on Eric's face. He meant to lure him here to obtain Sookie with the backing of his maker, while Bill was subjected to Lorena's unwanted attentions.

Seeing Sookie's look of horror, Eric sought to defuse the situation … slightly. He would be her protector till they returned to Louisiana, and he could do a very thorough job of it, if she'd let him. He commented, "Godric, I did enter into a contract with Sookie Stackhouse in order to find you, and her main condition was Bill Compton was to accompany her to Dallas in order to protect her. That contract is fulfilled, except for Sookie's return to her home. I have no objection to Bill Compton returning to my Area 5. Based on your judgment, I find them traveling separately acceptable, and will personally take care of her return home." He then looked to Sookie, and simply asked, "Sookie?"

Bill immediately disagreed on her behalf, "No, Sookie is mine."

Seeing Godric's lip curl in Bill's direction, Sookie feared what would be next, and said, "Uh … all right, but ya got to know, Godric, Bill wouldn't cause trouble now that I'm safe."

Eric airily commented, "It's safer that Bill go now. If he ends up in front of Magnus again so soon, he will not get off as lightly."

Sookie and Jason had no idea why the vampires as a group shook their heads and mockingly tsk'd, except for Godric, Bill and Eric. Bill looked at her, then left with Stan following.

It became clearer as Godric asked on their way to the parking lot, "Why and when did Compton see the Magister?"

"This past month he staked a vampire for this human."

"In front of witnesses?"

"Yes."

Godric gave his head a negative shake, before saying to Jason, "Give Hugo his keys back. You two will come with me."

Turning his head to look at Hugo, Godric said, "Stop following Sookie Stackhouse. Drive to your home and wait inside for Isabel. You are to invite her in, if you rescinded her invitation."

"Wait, we can be glamoured into inviting vampires into our homes?" Sookie asked.

"Of course, how do you think we get in otherwise?" Godric asked rhetorically.

Members of the church's private militia were still on the ground. Sookie did not see any blood so assumed they were Eric's handiwork, rather than Bill's or Stan's.

Stan returned and said, "He's taking Northman's advice and heading east for home. Sheriff, we can't be leaving without doing anything. You are not going to let them get away with this, are you?"

"Away with what?"

"Kidnapping, holding you … you were obviously injured," he said with a wave at Godric's head.

"I could not mock Eric's new hair style, while my own was still short."

Sookie looked to Eric who was following closely. He lifted an eyebrow at her. Godric was still holding her hand. She was not sure if he forgot he had grabbed it, and tried to pull hers away.

"I need to tell you something in private," he said, not releasing her.

Sookie looked at Jason, but he shrugged. He was getting out of here, and so was Sookie. Things were changing rapidly. Godric apparently was not some young, simple-minded, suicidal vampire who could quote the Bible. He did help them get out, and kept his cool with letting everyone live after he got shot in the head like that. Sending Bill Compton on his way was a bonus. If someone should have saved Sookie, it should have been his undead ass. She never would be in these kind of life-threatening situations, if it wasn't for Vampire Bill.

"Ride with someone else, Stan," Godric urged.

"Yes, Sheriff," Stan said with a dark glare at both humans. Eric's telepath did not show the proper respect, but the bloody, slack-jawed, human male remained quiet. He was nothing special though. What was Godric doing?

What Sookie really wanted was to talk to Eric alone. He probably had no idea that Godric was thinking about killing himself. Seriously planning it, since it was supposed to happen tomorrow morning at dawn. He wasn't talking about that stuff with Sarah like he had no idea about what he was doing.

Even though Godric had been unreasonable with Bill, she couldn't let him kill himself. Godric had saved her, and probably Jason too. He may have also saved a lot of people in that church because Stan was not there with all those vampires to pray.

Stan moved quickly ahead and told off some vampires that were waiting near a dark limo. They scattered, and after glancing back at Godric, Stan moved to one of the other vehicles that were not parked properly in the lot. Sookie was envious at how new and shiny they all were. How did vampires afford new, expensive cars? Her Honda Lemon Bomb was about to roll over its second 100,000 miles. It just wasn't fair. Eric better pay her.

Godric's touch was light but firm, when he shifted from holding her hand to touching the small of her back as she got in back of the car first. He leaned over to the window partition, said, "Home," and closed it.

What Jason and Sookie were not expecting was Godric to step over Eric's long legs, and insert himself between the two of them.

Their car began moving, and Godric asked, "Eric, have you tasted Miss Stackhouse?"

"No, I have not."

He looked to Sookie, "Miss Stackhouse, you should avoid strange vampires. You smell … I guess the best word would be delectable, and I noticed that down in the cellar. Now that I've sampled it, your blood is more delicious than human."

"What?"

"I am telling you my personal findings. Has any other vampire experienced you?"

"She's Bill Compton's," Eric supplied.

"He has said nothing to you?" Godric asked her.

"No, maybe you're making a mistake."

Godric paused a moment, before commanding, "Eric, smell her."

Eric slid out of his seat and knelt in front of her. He looked at Sookie and waited for her to nod before taking her hand between his. He was slow in making an evaluation and his face drifted all the way up her arm to her shoulder.

"She's not irresistible, Godric, but could smell like she was rubbing up against something that was. Not even what I would call mouth-watering. Definitely has the aroma of something that will be delicious. However, with Bill failing to respond to her … yesterday? I would assume she has not washed in the past 30 or 36 hours. That may be why I have not noticed it before, and I do not get physically this close to Sookie." Eric leaned back on his heels and gave Sookie's hand a brief pat. "I think any vampire with a degree of self-control can resist. However, I think they would also try to obtain her from Compton."

"You're already trying to do that, Eric," Sookie reminded him.

"Haven't you considered maybe I am doing that because I find your character of interest, Sookie? I have not examined you like this before, and you know I have never had your blood. I am only aware of your ability as a telepath of human minds, and that you are available for hire."

Godric silently looked at her, considering the telepath part.

"Whatever, Eric," Sookie replied weakly. Could he be telling the truth? What if he was, it's not like Sookie would ever like Eric. He was horrible.

Godric looked at Jason and inquired, "May I, Mr. Stackhouse?"

"Uh, I guess."

Jason felt a bit weird as the vampire leaned a bit too close for two guys to be, and then scraped a flake of dried blood off his skin to taste.

"No, you're AB negative. Although my favorite, not like your sister. Do you have the same two parents?"

"Yes," Jason said, trying to lean back.

Turning back to Sookie, Godric asked, "Can I assume you had some of Bill Compton's blood? That is why you expected him to find you when you were first imprisoned?"

"Yes, Bill should have come yesterday. Hugo and I were in that storage room since the day before yesterday. Even Steve and Gabe were surprised he didn't come last night."

"Eric, do you know why he did not come?"

Eric shrugged, rather than lying to his maker. He did not always succeed with that.

"Have you known Bill Compton long, Miss Stackhouse?"

"Uh, no. He moved home about a month ago," Sookie said. "He's originally from Bon Temps, where I live. Bill's mainstreaming."

"Vampires do not mainstream by running into the main Fellowship of the Sun church."

Jason had to laugh. He could just imagine Steve's face if a bunch of vampires had actually entered his church.

"When in the past month did you ingest some of his blood?"

"Uh, I got hurt pretty bad in the parking lot where I work the night after we first met. The first night is when I saved him from a couple of drainers, and they came back and beat me up the next night."

Godric directed a question in another language to Eric. Eric chose to reply in English, "No, I received no report about drainers in Bon Temps. I had a problem with other vampires being killed when their nest was set on fire when they decided to move there from Monroe. What are the drainers' names, Sookie?"

"Well, they're dead. Bill flipped a trailer over on them and made it look like a tornado hit."

Godric looked pensive, then sought to clarify as he slowly repeated back what he thought were the facts, "The first night you met Bill Compton, he was attacked by two drainers who probably take V themselves, in a parking lot? You … alone? … stopped them. And then, they almost kill you the next night because you could be what you appear … a single, human woman? And Bill Compton happened to be there to give you his blood and save your life, but not to aid you when you were getting beaten? Was it a long drawn-out attack lasting hours, or shorter?"

"No, real short. They were waiting for me when I came out of work."

"And Bill Compton happened to be passing at that time, and found where they had dumped your expiring body?"

"No, he was supposed to meet me right after work because I asked him to. My Gran wanted me to ask him for a favor, so he got there right as they were finishing me off."

"He did not kill them immediately, after they attacked him, when he would have been most angry and seeking retribution. He also did not report their attempt to his local sheriff, Eric, as mandated by our superiors in order to reduce V trafficking. He also did not kill them after they attacked you, when you reeked of spilled blood which could have incited violence from any of us. Rather, he waited, when he had time to consider what action to take."

"Well, you're kind of leaving out some details."

"Such as?"

"Uh, that um, Bill didn't know I was anything special when he helped me, and he had to help me immediately or else I could've died."

"Death can be easy and quick."

Sookie could not argue that with Godric, he killed Gabe with no fanfare, but she did argue, "When they drained Bill, he was very weak, after they took all that blood."

"Do you know how much they took?"

"There were a couple plastic IV bags on the ground."

"The regular 500 cc size, or another?"

"I don't know."

Eric said, "500 would be a half liter, if filled completely. Parking lot drainers? Probably switching the bag out frequently, rather than filling it to full, especially if the lighting was poor."

Jason said, "Huh?"

"One cc, or cubic centimeter, is one milliliter. One thousand milliliters is one liter," he explained, knowing that Americans refused to acknowledge the metric system, which was labeled centuries ago for all people, for all time. It was nice to be anywhere in the world, except here, and know how much he was offered in trade.

"No one uses that kind of measurement," Sookie stated. "You gotta talk about pints."

Godric was used to talking to vampires. They all were accustomed to metric measurements since it was standard for so long now. Although not brimming with common sense, Eric's ability to do math in his head was always very good. Probably from counting all his loot as a Viking.

"Whatever way it's measured," Eric said, "I doubt Bill was completely drained. Your bodies are composed of eight percent blood. I'm guessing I could get close to five liters from your brother who is similar in size to Bill. Drainers use what they can get. The preference for smaller containers is for ease in handling, trading, selling and possible loss due to damage to the bag. Larger is for those that are too squeamish to handle the process of changing them out. Drainers rarely have that problem."

"It is difficult to say since the one witness present does not even know what a liter is," Godric attested. "It would seem plausible that he could return the favor since vampires do not go doling out their blood to every piece of road kill. Are you are so formidable, Miss Stackhouse, that you could fend off two individuals on V that could subdue a vampire?"

"Well ..." Sookie was not sure she should mention what happened with the chain, so said, "I guess I caught them by surprise."

"How did Bill Compton overcome his weakness? Did he glamour you and feed?"

"I can't be glamoured, and he did not feed from me."

"How long did it take for him to move?"

"Well, he had to move when the drainers tried to run us over in their car."

Godric and Eric looked at each other. Sookie Stackhouse was a simpleton, especially with her claim that she could not be glamoured to believe whatever Bill Compton initially told her. If someone was immune to glamour, it would be wise not to tell vampires that.

"Was that the only time you had his blood?"

"Well, I've been hurt a lot. I needed a bunch the other night because I was attacked in the woods by some creature."

"Was Bill Compton nearby?"

"Yeah, he saved me."

"But you were still injured? What happened to the creature?"

"It has not been found," Eric inserted. "My people think it was some sort of animal."

"Too strong for a vampire?"

"It was already gone by the time Bill found me."

Godric's eyebrows raised before he asked, "So when you are around Bill Compton, Miss Stackhouse, you repeatedly suffer from mortal wounds?"

"Yes," Jason said. At last, someone could see the problem, and it didn't involve the damned metric system.

"You have repeatedly drank blood from the same vampire in a short period of time. Are you aware that you will be increasingly attracted to Bill Compton, and may reach a point where you have no free will with regard to him?"

"It does not. Bill said it would heal me and make me healthier." Sookie left out the part about her sex drive because that was no one's damned business.

Jason muttered, "No good son of a bitch." He knew there was something rotten about Vampire Bill. Sookie was his little, gullible sister, and always wanted to believe the best of everyone. "What can Sookie do about it?"

"Do not drink any more blood from Bill Compton. His connection to Miss Stackhouse will last the rest of her life. Over time, her own will will reassert itself. How fast depends on how much she drank. He seemed a young vampire to me so it may not take more than a few years."

"Wait a minute," Sookie said. "Bill loves me."

"He may," Eric said, trying to be agreeable to Sookie, but not contradict Godric. "Bill likes to talk about mainstreaming and rediscovering his humanity. You could very well be a step in his 12 step program, Sookie."

Jason got back to the point, "A few years? He lives next door to Sookie. She can't avoid him."

"Blood from other vampires will weaken the effect," Godric commented, "but will be confusing for Miss Stackhouse."

"Can't she drink some of yours? She did give you some of hers earlier tonight." Jason asked.

"Mine?" Godric replied. "I would need a stronger reason to allow that. Miss Stackhouse also needs to be selective about whose blood to accept due to the dreams."

"Dreams?"

"Yes, don't you often dream of Bill Compton? Perhaps on the first night you had his blood? That's one of the lures of a vampire subverting a human with their blood. There is no rest from it."

"He didn't mention that," Sookie replied. Besides wonderful dreams of Bill, she had a couple horrifying ones of Longshadow. Since Longshadow had been going to kill her, Sookie hadn't thought they were anything special. Why hadn't Bill mentioned this? She would have understood better, and since she needed Bill's blood after getting beat up that bad, she wouldn't have been angry, but she would have wanted to know what was going on. Sookie may be new to this relationship thing, but she'd definitely wouldn't want to go with someone that kept secrets from her, even if they were by omission.

"Each of us is as different as any person. Such as Eric's influence may be too strong for you, after the ordeal you suffered today."

"What happened today?" Eric asked. He wanted Sookie to have his blood.

"I heard Miss Stackhouse screaming, and found a large human male pinning her down in the process of raping her."

"And Bill got there after I?" Eric innocently speculated. He knew Godric was trying to say that with human minds being so strange, Eric's normally sensual nature could be subverted to something horrifying. It was something he was willing to risk, given the opportunity. "I did not even leave at sunset. I overheard a man at Bill's door giving him a message that Sookie and you were in the church basement. I felt it was too important to let Bill handle it alone, and came myself."

Sookie silently sent a message of thanks to Barry. At least someone could be counted on … besides Eric, Godric and Jason. And Stan. She got no mental reply. Perhaps she had to be desperate.

Jason got out the "Thanks for coming." If it was Godric alone, he still would have gotten shot in the head, and they probably would have left him lying on the pavement, thinking he was dead.

They hit a bump as the car pulled into a driveway. Sookie recognized the house from her earlier visit to meet with Isabel and Stan the first time.

Godric opened the door before the car was fully stopped, and disappeared into the night.

"Eric," Sookie said, laying a hand on his arm, "I got to talk to you."

"Yes? There is little I can do about Bill. Godric was not in a good mood. It's not entirely Bill's fault that he did not make a good impression, and I attempted to lightly defuse the situation. I do not want Godric's temper directed at me."

"It's more than 'not in a good mood', Eric. When Jason and I were talking to him in the basement, he's serious about getting exposed to the sun to commit suicide."

"What do you mean?"

"He said, he wants to burn," Jason said, repeating what Godric said. "Steve Newlin has a platform built for a 'meet the sun' ceremony tomorrow at dawn, and Godric knew about when I warned 'im. He even quoted the Bible about God, sin and forgiveness."

"Yeah," Sookie agreed.

Jason continued, "Even if he is into Christianity, there's something about self-hatred and suicide being murder so Steve probably tricked him. He tricked me. I was there for less than a week, and it was like my brain got sucked out, and they put all their little babies in it."

Eric looked to Sookie to translate that last part.

"Jason's saying they brainwash people into thinking they are right. They might have done that to Godric while he was there. Why was he there?"

"I do not know. Godric does as he likes."

"But he seems to be a good vampire. He did tell y'all not to hurt anyone. Isn't he?" Sookie asked.

"After a painful gunshot to the head, that incapacitated him, I think you know the answer to that, Sookie. He can lose his temper. Tonight, he did not. Thanks partially to you and your blood alleviating his suffering. And your blood has now given him a distraction. I'm not sure how long that is going to last."

"He was not kidding about that?"

"No, there's something about you that is different, and apparently is not the same in your sibling."

"He's not gonna try to feed from me, is he?" Jason asked.

"Not without asking."

"Are you?" Sookie asked.

"For the most part. I have not suffered a grievous injury in a long time that I became so desperate," Eric replied. Although bored with feeding on the willing, Sookie did not need to know that. "With age, comes resistance to sudden loss of blood or major injuries that would kill a younger vampire."

"Everybody's going in," Jason pointed out.

Eric got out of the car, then stopped and said, "Sookie, if Godric is unwell, I should stay here with him for the time being. Isabel and Stan are idiots. Can you stay longer so I can see you safely home, as I stated earlier this evening?"

"Uh …"

"I will pay you, if that is what you want."

"No, I mean, that's nice of you to offer, Eric, but I understand that Godric means something to you. He's your maker, isn't he?"

"Do not use words you do not understand."

"You have a lot of love for him."

"Do not use words I do not understand."